


what a heavenly way to die

by 991102



Category: NU'EST, Wanna One (Band)
Genre: M/M, ah shit here we go again, childhood friends to lovers can i get a yeehaw, some pretentious writing in the name of STYLE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-26 22:50:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18726448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/991102/pseuds/991102
Summary: daniel was born in december, but minhyun thinks that he has the smile of the summer sun—warm and brilliant and just as beautiful





	what a heavenly way to die

**Author's Note:**

> hi ^~^ i hope you enjoy the short ride!!! not necessarily my favorite fic but i did find small specks of happiness in writing it so i hope you'll find the same in reading it <3

_soon to die,_

_yet louder than ever_

_the autumn cicada_

 

_shiki_

 

hwang minhyun is born in august; the sun hangs high in the sky long past dinner and the cicadas sing for no one but the lonely stars above. minhyun’s grandmother used to say that the day his mother was due, the sun refused to fall behind the horizon until he was born, stubborn in its brilliance as minhyun entered the world kicking and screaming.

 

minhyun always liked to believe that the sun was his first friend.

 

that is, of course, until a couple of years later.

 

as winter draws on, the days grow short and cold and the warm sun rests behind thick clouds, but the day daniel moves into the village, minhyun discovers another sun to call friend.

 

(minhyun holds onto the back of his mother’s dress as she crosses the snow blanketed field, a bowl of fruit balanced on her hip and a thick wool blanket in the crook of her elbow. “minhyun, do you remember what i said? say hello to the boy. he’s around your age, so maybe you can be friends.”

 

“minhyun doesn’t want to.” he whines, lips drooping in a sour pout.

 

he doesn’t want to play with the kids in the village, or say hello to the boy he doesn’t want to be friends with. he already had a friend.

 

minhyun looks up at the sky, but only the clouds stare back at him. he doesn’t let his mother see the disappointment on his face. minhyun’s friend was sick today, and yesterday too, that was all.

 

“minhyun,” she warns, a pinched look on her pretty face, as they approach the door of the old cottage—no one had lived there for as long as minhyun could remember. it was always old, and it was always empty. “do as i say.”

 

he groans, throwing his arms around her hips and dragging his feet through the snow, pressing his face into the small of her back to hide.

 

she knocks on the wood and the old door rattles with each touch of her knuckles. minhyun presses himself closer to his mother when a woman responds from the opposite side of the door. minhyun hears two distinct sets of footsteps; the first was louder, the sounds farther apart as if the person had long, slow strides, and another was soft, quick and light like minhyun’s own footsteps when he runs across the cottage to the warmth of the fire after a cold bath.

 

minhyun comes to the realization that it must mean the little boy is at the door with his mother just as its hinges squeak.

 

“this is my minhyun.” minhyun doesn’t have the time to plan his escape because his mother tugs him in front of her, holding him by the shoulders lest he run off—and to be completely fair, he would have if he had had the chance. “he’s a little shy, but i hope he and your little one will be good friends.”

 

minhyun doesn’t listen to what the woman, round and kind looking, says back—he just knows that it makes his mother laugh—because his attention is trained on the little boy standing behind her legs, arms circled around her thigh and peeking out with curious eyes.

 

the boy is small, a lot smaller than minhyun, but baby fat shapes his round face and makes his cheeks stick out like two rolls of bread when he smiles.

 

he has a big smile.

 

it reminds minhyun of his grandmother’s sweet lemonade and the patches of yellow dandelions behind the cottage. on instinct, and because he feels like he would make the little boy sad if he didn’t, and he doesn’t want to make the little boy sad, minhyun smiles back.

 

minhyun frees himself from his mother’s hold, and he moves to wave the small boy to his side, holding out his hand, “my name is minhyun!” he sticks out his lips in thought, wondering what more the boy should know about him. minhyun stands as tall as he can, waving his hand for the boy to take, and he sure does hope the boy will take his hand. minhyun doesn’t know _why_ he wants the boy to come with him, but minhyun’s heart fills with a warm feeling, and his mother always said that he should follow it no matter what. “i’m five. i’m almost big enough to go to school.”

 

with gentle prodding from his mother, the small boy finally steps out from behind her, and he takes minhyun’s outstretched hand, shaking it slowly as if he’s uncertain if it’s what he’s supposed to do.

 

“daniel.” the little boy mumbles, pointing to himself, and he holds up his free hand to count on his fingers, “four.”

 

minhyun nods his head in understanding; daniel is small because he’s not five like minhyun. he’s only four. that means that daniel has to listen to him because he’s big, doesn’t it? minhyun points to the field that he and his mother crossed minutes ago, already turning to walk in the direction when he grins at the small boy, “come play with me!”

 

daniel follows along after minhyun this time without coaxing from his mother, eyes wide with curiosity and excitement, and it’s the start of a friendship that will move the clouds and burn stubbornly and brilliantly for as long as the river flows south.

 

minhyun talks day and night if only so he can watch his own breath pillow into clouds of frost, but daniel doesn’t seem to mind; daniel always listens to what minhyun has to say, droopy eyes alight with interest and mouth tilted into a smile.

 

days inch by with the rise and fall of the sun and moon, and minhyun grows out of his trousers by the time pristine white gives way to lush greens and brilliant yellows and rich browns, bowls of warm porridge making him big and strong.

 

and daniel is always right by his side, holding his own bowl of porridge in his small hands.)

 

a lot of things change as they grow up, really. minhyun breaks his arm when he’s eight years old after climbing into an oak tree and stepping on a branch that couldn’t hold his weight, and he becomes the top student at the village school when he’s twelve years old although the big kids are almost fifteen, and he catches his first rabbit when he’s thirteen years old, and his father dies when he’s fifteen years old, and the kingdom is tossed into a war that will last a long, bloody decade when he’s seventeen years old.

 

but one thing remains the same.

 

daniel.

 

he still smiles just as brightly and he still laughs like an absolute dork, and maybe that’s why minhyun doesn’t notice that the small boy he met all those years ago has grown into a strong and capable man, almost taller than himself.

 

(“happy birthday, sunshine.” minhyun holds the small cake in front of daniel. rations are low, so minhyun couldn’t get his hands on more than one pathetic candle and a pack of flour, but by the look on daniel’s face, it’s enough. “make a wish.”

 

the flame burns slowly, tossing a soft orange glow on daniel’s face, and it’s the most beautiful thing minhyun has seen.

 

just like the sun itself.

 

daniel clasps his hands together and he closes his eyes, smile shining brighter than the night stars above, and he blows the candle out with a giggle.

 

minhyun claps happily, whooping and shoving the cake into daniel’s hands for the birthday boy to eat. “what did you wish for?”

 

“if i tell you, it won’t come true!” daniel whines, and he takes a bite of the cake, looking up at the stars as he swallows around the dry cake and sugary frosting. “i’ll only tell you once i’m sure it will happen.”

 

minhyun doesn’t press him about it; he doesn’t press daniel about anything now, really. he drops the subject, humming, “tell me another wish.” minhyun doesn’t have much—much of _anything_ , but for daniel, he’d go to the ends of the earth. “it’s your birthday. i have to make sure at least one of your wishes comes true.”

 

daniel snorts, finishing off the cake and licking the frosting off his thumb, “what more could i ask for?”

 

he doesn’t have the money to build his mother a big, beautiful cottage or make daniel anything more than a tiny cake with a single candle, but it was he and daniel’s promise to each other to make birthday wishes come true.

 

“i know you have to have wished for something i can do.” minhyun whines, turning to face him. “ _anything_.”

 

“anything?” daniel arches a brow, skeptical, “really?”

 

minhyun nods, grinning. “anything.”

 

he doesn’t have the power to make all of daniel’s fantasies happen, but minhyun knows that he sure can try.

 

after a moment of silent contemplation and as if under a trance, daniel moves closer and he cradles minhyun’s face with his hands, and his touch is so gentle, so _light_ that he almost doubts daniel is actually touching him. “i can think of one thing.” daniel tilts his head to the side, “is it okay if i kiss you?”

 

he doesn’t have the time to lie to himself.

 

minhyun’s breath hitches.

 

he loves daniel.

 

and it’s more than how he loves his mother and how he loves his friends from school and how he loves porridge. it’s more than all of that, maybe. minhyun will always love daniel like he loves the small boy who didn’t know how to make a snow angel, but minhyun loves daniel—the brilliant, beautiful daniel who likes to cook with his mother and knit wool blankets for the stray cats that hide in the woods behind his cottage—in another way.

 

he loves him the way that his mother loves his father—in the way that is forever.

 

daniel is all that minhyun can allow himself to have, and he would be damned if he didn’t allow daniel anything he desires. and if daniel wants _him_ , who is minhyun to say no?

 

and as much as minhyun had wished that the day wouldn’t come, despite all of minhyun’s birthday wishes that he used on asking the heavens to let he and daniel stay as kids forever, daniel is sixteen years old now.

 

just old enough to join the army in a fight that the kingdom will lose.

 

he doesn’t have the time to hold back.

 

minhyun smiles, “of course it’s okay.”)

 

it was a cold winter day when minhyun first met daniel, falling snow sticking to the wool of his hat as he followed his mother through the field, and it’s snowing again today.

 

(“what did you wish for?” minhyun asks, smoothing out daniel’s uniform with his hands. it hasn’t been long since the two of them joined the army, but the training has made daniel’s shoulders grow broader than his own and his palms rough. “on your birthday?”

 

the sound of bullets grows louder with each passing minute, and the both of them know what is coming.

 

minhyun loads his rifle with gunpowder, and daniel makes quick work of his own, and no one around them makes a noise.

 

for a moment, minhyun almost thinks that daniel won’t tell him—something about if he tells him then it won’t come true, but he does. and maybe that’s more heartbreaking than anything.

 

“i asked the heavens to take pity on us.” daniel presses a kiss to his forehead, and he holds his face close. “i always wished for you. it was always you. so that you and i would be together for all of our shared lifetimes.”

 

minhyun’s heart pounds with a decade old love. “no fair. i wished for you first.”

 

daniel laughs, and the sight is blinding in its radiance.

 

he was born in december, but minhyun thinks that he has the smile of the summer sun—warm and brilliant and just as beautiful.

 

some things never change.)

 

and minhyun loves daniel more than life.

 

maybe that is why he drops his gun as soon as he sees daniel collapse, blood staining the front and back of his uniform.

 

maybe that is why he doesn’t try to fight for his life when a bullet hits him.

 

minhyun squints as the sun shines in his eyes.  

 

he really wishes he could have a bowl of warm porridge.

 

minhyun touches the chain around his collar and he holds the ring bound to it to his heart. “until i see you again, sunshine.”

 

he closes his eyes.

 

the sun shines brilliantly and beautifully, his friend from the beginning to the end, and it doesn’t fall under the horizon until minhyun’s soul returns home amongst the clouds.

**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you think hehe ^~^ you can find me on twitter @heartslgns :D


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